Your Guide to Your First Crossfit Workout

When the sport of Crossfit is mentioned, it’s easy for words to come to mind that are associated with intimidating, intense, painful or daunting. A lot of people who are new to the workout scene (or those who are trying to get back in it) may think of Crossfit as an advanced workout that may be too challenging for them. Though in some cases this may be true, it’s actually a misconception that only the advanced athlete can make it through a Crossfit workout.

Crossfit is short duration workout full of high intensity intervals. The goal is to give the workout everything you can physically (and mentally) for a short duration of maybe only 20 minutes…the hard part about it is the lack of resting. Not only has interval training proven to burn more calories, but you’ll also be spending less time in the gym!

If you’re a beginner and interested in giving this workout trend a go, here’s a Crossfit workout WOD, or Workout of the Day, for you to try. The five exercises below should be done immediately following the other without rest. For your first attempt, just get through one round as fast as you can and time yourself. Next time, see if you can beat your own time. Once you’ve gotten the hang of things, try adding multiple rounds and get as many in as you can within a 20-minute time frame.

• Lunges – First start with 20 walking lunges. Alternate legs with each step and walk until you’ve done 10 on each leg. Make sure to push off the heel of the front foot to get the full effect.

• Triceps Dips – May be done on a stair, bench or some sort of slightly raised surface. Perform 10-15 reps by bending at the elbow and keeping all weight on your hands/arms.

• Jump Squats (180) – Begin just like a regular squat with your feet out wide and sit your hips back until your quads are parallel with the ground. Once in this position explode off your feet and turn 180 degrees. Try to smoothly land back in the squatting position. Perform 10-15 jump squats.

• Knee Tucks – Start in a standing position with your arms at your side. Explode through your feet and bring your knees to your chest, tucking them in by wrapping your arms around your knees when they reach your torso. Perform 10 knee tucks.

• Push-Ups – As a beginner, you might start with push-ups on your knees. Chose whichever style of pushup is most comfortable for you. Make sure to bend those elbows back and against your body, not out and away from your body. Use your chest muscles to push you up, not your arms. Perform 10 push-ups, while making sure the back is as flat as possible.

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HelloGiggles is a positive online community for women (although men are always welcome!) covering the latest in beauty, fashion, lifestyle, female empowerment, culture, relationships, friendship, careers, and issues that matter most to young women’s lives. A platform for writers and artists to create and share, HelloGiggles welcomes reader contributions and publishes them daily. And now, we are growing beyond just the website to include video, film, television and events. We were founded by Zooey Deschanel, Molly McAleer, and Sophia Rossi in 2011 as a place on the Internet to inspire a smile. We’re still trying to do just that.